“We do not want to be a state with pockets of excellence. We want excellence to be the norm.”

Join Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Somerville’s SustainaVille program, and other City and community partners in celebrating the third annual SustainaVille week. From Saturday, April 27 through Saturday, May 4, there will be a variety of activities for all ages celebrating sustainability and climate action. Activities include an Arbor Day and Gardening Fair, a self-guided citywide sustainability tour, and an interactive panel discussion about the changing world of waste and recycling. The full schedule of events is below.

For the next phase of work on the Green Line Extension (GLX) Project, the Washington St. bridge, in East Somerville near McGrath Highway, will close for construction beginning Monday, April 8, at about 10 p.m. This bridge will close for two separate phases: first, from April 8 through approximately November 2019, then again from about April 2020 through August 2020.

On Monday, April 8, Prospect Hill Park will close to the public for the next phase of the Prospect Hill Park Rehabilitation Project. Preliminary work began in October 2018. The park is expected to reopen in 2020.

Celebrate Patriots’ Day at the City’s annual festivities at Foss Park on Mon., April 15. “Paul Revere” will stop by during a reenactment of his historic ride from Boston to Lexington. Attendees can also enjoy the Colonial Fair where they can play games and complete a “Colonial Passport.” There will be Colonial-era refreshments and music by the Somerville High School band. The Patriots’ Day Celebration will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and will be held rain or shine. For more information, contact Brandon Wilson at 617-625-6600 ext.

The public is invited to a community update on the status of negotiations between the City and Tufts University for a new Partnership Agreement between the City and the university. Hosted by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the members of the Mayor’s Tufts Partnership Negotiating Committee, the update will be held on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m.

Members of the public are invited to attend and speak at a Public Hearing on traffic safety, traffic calming, and the Traffic Calming Petition submitted by the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group and signed by approximately 350 people. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 3, at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

Members of the public are invited to attend and speak at two April 4 Public Hearings on a request from Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone to file a Home Rule Petition to the State Legislature requesting that 16- and 17-year-old Somerville citizens be granted legal voting rights for municipal elections.

The City of Somerville has been working to produce a strategic plan to guide its safe streets work, using the global “Vision Zero” movement as a framework to eliminate traffic crashes that result in severe injuries and fatalities. A series of community engagement opportunities have been scheduled for residents and stakeholders to discuss the City’s public policy framework around safe streets. Upcoming opportunties include:

The City is now accepting applications for positions on Mayor Joseph Curtatone’s Appointments Advisory Committee (AAC). The Committee reviews applications and makes recommendations for vacant Mayor-appointed posts on boards and commissions with regulatory or decision-making authority.

Mayor Marc C. McGovern and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced this morning the establishment of the United Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants, a partnership between the Mayors’ Offices and the Cambridge Community Foundation.

“By unifying efforts to raise funds for the most vulnerable families in our community, we can help valued neighbors and stabilize families impacted by the stress and uncertainty of ongoing shifts in TPS and DACA
status, and those seeking asylum.”

The City of Somerville is seeking to fill vacancies on five essential boards and commissions appointed by the Mayor and coordinated by the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development. Boards and commissions offer an opportunity for community members with a range of experience, skills, expertise, and perspectives to share their talents and insights with their community. The Mayor’s office will be accepting applications for the open positions through Wednesday, April 17, 2019.

In Somerville, we pride ourselves on being a city that is home to people from all around the world and of every religion. So, when an atrocity like the mosque attacks in New Zealand takes place, we feel it here. We want to state emphatically our revulsion over this type of prejudice-driven violence and our solidarity with the people in our local Muslim community.

The Somerville City Council wishes to inform the community that two significant votes may take place on Thursday, March 21. At the 6 p.m. meeting of the Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole at City Hall, Committee Chair & Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang believes that votes may be taken on the Proposed Condominium Conversion Ordinance as well as the Proposed Short-Term Rental Ordinance.

SOMERVILLE – The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is holding their annual Community Preservation Plan public hearing on Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Room at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell St. The Community Preservation Plan establishes the annual funding priorities and allocations for the three categories that Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds can support. From fiscal years 2015 to 2018, the annual funding minimums were 45% for affordable housing, 15% for historic resources, and 15% for open space/recreation land.

Somerville's Docent Program operates on a scheduled basis during the months of May through October. Public openings are offered at three historic sites, twice a month -- the Milk Row Cemetery on Somerville Avenue, Prospect Hill Tower above Union Square, and the Powder House in Nathan Tufts Park, off the Powder House rotary. The Docent Program was started in 2012 at the Cemetery and expanded to three historic sites in 2017.

With the groundbreaking for the new Somerville High School building project behind us and construction underway, gradual changes to parking options on the Central Hill Campus (which includes City Hall, Somerville High School, and the Somerville Public Library) and the surrounding public streets have begun. Join City staff for a series of public quarterly meetings where updates about parking changes, new data collection, and strategies for impact mitigation will be discussed.

To complete the next phase of work on the Green Line Extension (GLX) Project, the Broadway bridge, between Ball Square and Magoun Square, will close for construction for approximately one-year beginning March 22. This is the first in a series of three 8- to 12-month closures planned for 2019: Closures on Washington St. and Medford St. will follow in April and July, respectively. Wider bridges will be constructed at each location to accommodate the new light-rail service, among other improvements.